The Progressive Blues Experiment

Earlier tonight it was announced that the St Louis Blues signed outcast goalie Manny Legace to a one year deal for a little over a million and change. Yes, this is the same goalie who just last year had a record of 37 wins 8 losses and 3 ties. The same goalie who has a lifetime GAA of 2.21 and save percentage of .920. Not too shabby! The Red Wings tossed him away like trash after his disappointing playoffs performance and no other team appeared to show serious interest. The Blues certainly got him at good value and this is an excellent choice for Manny. Now he gets to face his old teammates 8 times and has a great chance for some payback. And you know what they say about payback!! Kudos to Manny for not shying away from facing the Central Division and his old team.

Speaking of the Blues, is this an interesting team or what? The first line shapes up to be the old team USA back from the grave! Doug Weight, Keith Tkachuk, and Bill Guerin have all seen better days, but Weight can still pass and make plays, Tkachuk can still plant that big ass in front of the net, and Guerin has always had a great shot, period. These guys might be the slowest line in hockey, but I guarantee you they will score points. They have a bunch of youngsters who were just starting to gell at the end of last year. With Brewer and McKee playing serious minutes on D and Manny in goal, this team should be much improved from last year. So much improved, it might be worth taking a look at their odds of winning the Cup next year.

Let's take a look at the updated odds for everyone as of tonight.

Detroit 6-1
Ottawa 7-1
Carolina 10-1
Anaheim 12-1
Buffalo 12-1
Calgary 12-1
New Jersey 12-1
Philadelphia 12-1
Dallas 15-1
San Jose 15-1
Colorado 20-1
Nashville 20-1
NY Rangers 18-1
Vancouver 20-1
Tampa Bay 25-1
Atlanta 30-1
Edmonton 28-1
Florida 30-1
Montreal 30-1
Toronto 38-1
Columbus 40-1
Boston 45-1
Los Angeles 50-1
Minnesota 45-1
NY Islanders 50-1
Phoenix 50-1
Pittsburgh 85-1
St Louis 85-1
Chicago 100-1
Washington 100-1

The Blues odds have dropped from 100-1 to 85-1 already. I bet those odds drop even more fairly soon. Out of the big longshots, I like the Pens and the Blues more than I like the Hawks and Caps. A 10 dollar bet isn't a bad bet on either team at 85-1, just for the heck of it. I'm not saying I expect either of those teams to win, but I wasn't expecting that the Canes would win last year at this time when they were 100-1 to win the Cup.

Notice the Canes are at 10-1, more of a favorite than the 12-1 last month. Funny how times have changed in one year! Detroit is still the overall favorite at 6-1. I don't get that one.